You may think you know watches, but let's be real -- you just don’t. Let me, a true horological aficionado, enlighten your plebeian minds as to what makes a real watch, what you should wear when, and what to do with those old watches of yours. All the opinions expressed by the Watch Snob are my own, and are just that -- opinions. Don’t worry, though, AskMen will still be bringing you great features on interesting watches to buy, both old and new, expensive and cheap. But for those who would like a truly discerning opinion on timepieces, let the Watch Snob decree.

Dear Watch Snob,

I am an avid reader of your column and after having read your post about Montblanc watches, I'd like to ask you how you feel about its parent company, Richemont, and other such companies.

As I'm sure you are aware, many watch companies are branches or subdivisions of a larger luxury goods company. I personally feel that while they continue to operate with a fair amount of autonomy, their parent companies tend to push them toward filling a certain niche. For example, in the case of Montblanc, one can't help but wonder how much of its new innovation has come from internal sources rather than from cast-off ideas from Vacheron, Panerai, Cartier, etc. So my question is: Do you know if these companies operate autonomously? And how do you feel about it?

The conglomerates: the good vs. the bad.

Yes, there are many conglomerates, three of which happen to dominate the world of horology. Richemont, like you mention; Swatch, which owns everything from Tissot, Hamilton and Longines all the way to Omega, Breguet and Glashutte Original (and yes, Swatch, too); and finally we have LVMH, which owns Zenith, TAG Heuer, etc.

The pros: sharing technology (Ralph Lauren can use IWC and Piaget movements); Vacheron uses Jaeger-LeCoultre movements. Scale in production keeps costs down. Centralized viewing (SIHH, for example), and what is most beneficial to all of us, money, are also pros. Conglomerates have money, and since all of the brands feed into one single unit, the money can be disbursed in a creative fashion.

For example, do you think A. Lange & Sohne would have survived as an independent watch brand? Not a chance, and now it is producing some of the best mechanical watches in the world. It was able to do this thanks to the money that Cartier made for Richemont. Same thing with Panerai -- it would be long forgotten, which would probably be a good thing, if Richemont hadn’t invested in it.

The downside is a slight loss of character from buying a watch from a conglomerate brand. However, at least you know the brand will be around in 20 years -- that is questionable with independent brands. In my opinion, go with the best of both worlds and buy from strong independents that have great histories: Patek Philippe, Rolex and Audemars Piguet.